Respondus (available via MPT’s page here) is a productive tool that allows you to create a quiz in Microsoft Word which can then be imported into Desire2Learn.

However, you must following certain formatting conventions for the import to work. Also, you should turn off automatic numbering of lists in Word to prevent any problems uploading the test into Respondus. To turn off automatic numbered lists, follow one of the two sets of steps below, depending on what version of Word you are using.

Word 2003:

Click Tools.

Click AutoCorrect Options.

Click AutoFormat As You Type tab.

Uncheck Automatic Numbered Lists.

Click OK.

Word 2007:

Click the Microsoft Office Button

Click Word Options.

Click Proofing.

Click AutoCorrect Options.

Click AutoFormat As You Type tab.

Uncheck Automatic Numbered Lists.

Click OK.

Multiple Choice Questions

Question: Type the number, a period, a space, then the question text.

Answer Choices: Type the letter, a period, a space, then the answer choice.

Correct Answer: Put a star * in front of the letter of the correct answer. Do NOT put a space between the * and the letter.

Feedback: Put after question with “@” sign and a space before the feedback.

Example:

1. Who was the second president of the United States of America?@ The answer is John Adams. *a. John Adamsb. Thomas Jeffersonc. James Madisond. George Washington

Attention Faculty - FITS has just sent this message out to all full-time and adjunct faculty. You will soon notice a change to Desire2Learn:

To make your experience using D2L the best it can be, we will be implementing an archiving process to move and remove some older course material from D2L. Doing so will improve your ability to quickly locate your current courses and improve system performance.The first step in this process will be to move all courses from the academic year 2010-2011 and Autumn 2011-2012 to a new area of the My Courses Widget called ARCHIVE (those instructors who teach in SNL Online will see their Online courses in an area called FAC ARCHIVE). In the future, prior to loading a new quarter, the previous year's quarter will be moved to this area - for example before loading Winter 2012-2013, Winter 2011-2012 will be moved to ARCHIVE/FAC ARCHIVE).

At the time that the courses are moved, the courses will be made inactive to students. Doing so will remove the courses from the Student's view, making it easier for them to locate their current courses. Instructors wishing or needing to allow students access to these older courses will need to reactivate them following the directions found at: http://d2l.iddresources.org/documents/video/71 Courses moved to this area will still be available to the instructor and can be used to copy into future quarter courses.

Courses will begin being moved the first week of Summer Quarter, Monday June 11th, and we expect to have the process completed by Friday June 22nd. During this same time period we will also begin loading the Fall 2012-2013 courses into the system so you can begin working in those course sites.

The second step in this process will be to remove all courses currently found in the BbImports area of the My Courses Widget. Faculty wishing to retain a personal copy of materials found in these courses are able to export them to an archive file which can be stored locally on a flash drive, U: or W: drive or other external storage device. For directions on how to export a course see http://d2l.iddresources.org/documents/video/46. All exports will need to be completed by June 30th.

Inkling now has a Web client - you no longer have to read books on the iPad only, you can read them through a browser here. I am looking forward to seeing how well this works on Android tablets, as well as smartphones.

Barnes and Noble is promoting their new PubIt! service. PubIt! is a self-publishing platform that faculty can use to create and sell ebooks. More information can be found here, via this webinar, or via this downloadable PDF.

DePaul’s CDM is hiding a Research Colloquium on Tuesday, May 29th in CDM 230. The speaker will be William R. Watson from Purdue University.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 29th, 1PM WHERE: CDM 230TITLE: Theoretical foundations and real-world examples of the application of video games to promote learning

ABSTRACT: Video games are increasingly being promoted for their potential to promote engaging and problem-oriented learning. They have been touted as having the potential to transform education and video games for learning have even been celebrated at the White House. This discussion will present the theory behind the use of games for learning and review some real world examples of their use in schools.

BIO: William R. Watson is an Assistant Professor of Learning Design and Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Purdue University. He is the director of the Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments, which conducts research on and provides support for implementing, designing and developing educational video games and virtual environments for learning. Watson earned a Ph.D. in Education and a M.S. in Information Science from Indiana University. His research interest focuses on the critical, systemic change of education to realize a learner-centered paradigm, including the application of technology such as video games, virtual environments, and learning management software in order to create customized and personalized learning environments.

Minnesota launched an online catalog of open-source books last month and will pay its professors $500 each time they post an evaluation of one of those books. (Faculty members elsewhere are welcome to post their own reviews, but they won’t be compensated.) Minnesota professors who have already adopted open-source texts will also receive $500, with all of the money coming from donor funds.

PBS Frontline's "Money, Power and Wall Street" documentary has been made available online. PBS has made all four hours of video embeddable - you can take the code and add this to your Desire2Learn courses. The video is available here.

Registration for the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning is open. You can review the 2012 Conference Program electronically. This year's conference offers a vast array of learning opportunities in online education and training:

At Sundance this year, a low budget independent film, Safety Not Guaranteed, starring Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Jake Johnson (New Girl), and Mark Duplass (The League, etc.) took the festival by storm, garnering multiple standing ovations, winning the Waldo Salt Award (for Best Screenplay) and selling to the distributor Film District. Film District is planning a major national theatrical release for June 8th, but we've managed to convince them to allow us a DePaul-Exclusive screening with a special guest on the night of Friday, May 11th.

This event is exclusively for DePaul Students and or Faculty. Please come. (First come, first seated).